GetWiki

{{short description|European far-right political movement}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}

factoids

| founder = | extinction = | merger = | type = | vat_id = | registration_id = Islamophobia>PaleoconservatismOpposition to immigration>Anti-immigrationFar-right politics>German nationalism}}| location = Dresden, Germany| coords = | region = | services = | products = | methods = | fields = | membership = | membership_year = | language = German| owner = | sec_gen = | leader_title = ChairPatriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West{{citation |doi=10.1080/07256868.2016.1235026 |title=PEGIDA: Understanding the Emergence and Essence of Nativist Protest in Dresden |journal=Journal of Intercultural Studies |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=541–555 |year=2016 |last1=Virchow |first1=Fabian |s2cid=151752919 }}"PEGIDA in Germany". (), abbreviated Pegida ({{IPA-de|peˈɡiːda|lang}}, stylised in its logo as PEGIDA), is a pan-European, anti-Islam, far-right extremist political movement.

• BOOK, Alexander I. Stingl, The Digital Coloniality of Power: Epistemic Disobedience in the Social Sciences and the Legitimacy of the Digital Age,weblink 16 December 2015, Lexington Books, 978-1-4985-0193-4, has led, induced by the media event that is ISIS, to the resurgence of a populist demonstration culture in PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) on the extreme Right, which has found supporters in the ...,
• "PEGIDA in Germany".
• "The Pegida Movement and German Political Culture: Is Right-Wing Populism Here to Stay?"
• BOOK, Enes, Bayraklı, Farid Hafez, European Islamophobia Report 2015,weblink 23 March 2016, SETA, 978-605-4023-68-4, 56, Although founded in neighbouring Germany, PEGIDA has gained some support in Belgium. Support for the far-right and Islamophobic organisation is more keenly seen in Dutch-speaking Flanders, than in francophone Wallonia and Brussels.,
• BOOK, Margetts, Helen, John, Peter, Hale, Scott A., Yasseri, Taha, Helen Margetts, Political turbulence: how social media shape collective action,weblink Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2016, 9780691159225, 3, Some have seen the rise of far-right and anti-Islamist groups, as in Germany where protests by the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (PEGIDA) have been attended by thousands, matched by a counter-movement of ...,
• BOOK, Greg Albo, Leo Panitch, The Politics of the Right: Socialist Register 2016,weblink 22 December 2015, Monthly Review Press, 978-1-58367-575-5, 5, Pegida is a classic far-right anti-immigration movement.,
• BOOK, Shannon Latkin Anderson, Immigration, Assimilation, and the Cultural Construction of American National Identity,weblink 19 November 2015, Taylor & Francis, 978-1-317-32875-9, 16, In Germany, the far-right anti-Islam movement Pegida found massive audience in its anti-Islamic, anti-immigration marches,
• NEWS, Anti-Islam Organization PEGIDA Is Exporting Hate Across Europe,weblink Newsweek, The 200 or so demonstrators trudging down the road are supporters of PEGIDA, a far-right German group whose name is an acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident.,
• NEWS, France bans march through Calais by far-right Pegida group,weblink International Business Times,
• NEWS, Germany's refugee crisis is fueling the far-right Pegida movement,weblink Public Radio International,
• NEWS, Germany reveals plans to relax deportation rules for foreign criminals,weblink CNN, Protesters from the far-right PEGIDA movement attend a rally in Leipzig on Monday, German Pegida believes that Germany is being increasingly IslamicisedNEWS, The End of Tolerance? Anti-Muslim Movement Rattles Germany,weblink 3 January 2015, Der Spiegel, 21 December 2014, and defines itself in opposition to Islamic extremism.

Pegida wants to curb immigration into Germany and it accuses the authorities of failure to enforce related laws.NEWS,weblink Who goes to German Pegida 'anti-Islamisation' rallies, BBC News, 13 January 2015, Pegida has held many demonstrations, often accompanied by counter-demonstrations.NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150105215735weblink">weblink dead, 5 January 2015, Germany anti-Islamic protests: Biggest Pegida march ever in Dresden as rest of Germany shows disgust with lights-out, The Independent, 5 January 2015, In 2015, , the founder of Pegida, resigned from the movement after posing as and making racist statements on Facebook.NEWS,weblink Germany's Pegida anti-Islam movement unravelling, The Daily Telegraph, 28 January 2015, He was later reinstated.NEWS, Pegida head Lutz Bachmann reinstated after furore over Hitler moustache photo,weblink Ben, Knight, The Guardian, 23 February 2015, 31 October 2015, Though nationalism is a central feature, Pegida offshoots have formed in various countries. It is a grassroots part of the counter-jihad movement.JOURNAL, Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution, Ed, Perwee, 2020, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43, 16, 211–230, 10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688, 218843237, free,

History

Origin

File:Pegida-Plakat.svg|thumb|Alternate logo used by Pegida.NEWS, Bremer, Nils, Auch die Gegner organisieren sich,weblink 21 June 2016, Journal Frankfurt, 5 January 2015, Slogans such as "Violence-free and united against religious and proxy wars on German soil" are commonplace at Pegida rallies.NEWS, Iskandar, Katharina, Auch die Gegner organisieren sich,weblink 21 June 2016, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 January 2015, NEWS, Weiß, Volker, Islam-Gegner und rechte Szene: Pegida ist die neue Abkürzung für 'Ausländer raus',weblink 21 June 2016, Der SpiegelDer SpiegelPegida was founded in October 2014 by , who runs a public relations agency in Dresden.NEWS, Connolly, Kate, Estimated 15,000 people join 'pinstriped Nazis' on march in Dresden,weblink 4 January 2015, The Guardian, 15 December 2014, 's impetus for starting Pegida was witnessing a rally by alleged supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) against the siege of Kobani by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on 10 October 2014 in Dresden,WEB,weblink PEGIDA-Erfinder: Wir hören erst auf, wenn die Asyl-Politik sich ändert! – Dresden, Bild, 1 December 2014, 17 February 2015, de, which he posted on YouTube on the same day.WEB,weblink Kurden Demo Dresden, YouTube, Lutz, Bachmann, 5 January 2015, de, The next day he founded a Facebook group called ('Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of the Occident').NEWS,weblink Prying into Pegida: Where Did Germany's Islamophobes Come From?, Popp, Maximilian, Wassermann, Andreas, Der Spiegel, 12 January 2015, 16 January 2015, On 7 October, Yazidis and Muslim Chechens had violently clashed in .NEWS, Kurds and Islamists brawl in Hamburg,weblink 17 March 2019, The Local, 8 October 2014, On 26 October, out of 5,000 protesters, "at least 400 right-wing extremists went on a rampage in downtown Cologne during a demonstration" by "Hooligans Against Salafists". mentioned these events in a release for his first demonstration.NEWS,weblink Pegida: Bewegung gegen Islamisierung des Abendlandes, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 25 January 2016, 7 February 2016, Locke, Stefan,

First wave of demonstrations

The first demonstration, or "evening stroll" (according to Pegida), took place on 20 October 2014, and attracted only a handful of people. During the following days, the movement began gaining wider public attention, and, subsequently, the weekly Monday demonstrations drew larger numbers of people. Among the 7,500 participants on 1 December 2014, the police identified 80 to 120 hooligans. The demonstration grew to 10,000 people on 8 December 2014.NEWS, Smale, Alison, In German City Rich With History and Tragedy, Tide Rises Against Immigration,weblink 16 December 2014, The New York Times, 7 December 2014, NEWS, Kirschbaum, Erik, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West quickly gathering support in Germany,weblink 16 December 2014, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December 2014, During the weekly demonstrations on Monday evenings, Pegida supporters carried banners with slogans such as "For the preservation of our culture", "Against religious fanaticism, against any kind of radicalism, together without violence" and "Against religious wars on German soil".NEWS, Stute, Dennis, Anti-Islamist protests with right-wing ties expand in Germany,weblink 9 December 2014, Deutsche Welle, 7 December 2014, On 19 December 2014, PEGIDA e.V. was legally registered in Dresden under the registration ID VR 7750,WEB,weblink Dresdner Tafel will kein Geld von PEGIDA, Morgenpost Sachsen, 22 December 2014, 17 January 2015,weblink 19 January 2015, dead, with as chairman, as vice-chairman and as treasurer. Pegida also formally applied for the status of a nonprofit organization.WEB,weblink So will Pegida mit den Demos Geld machen, Bild, Fischer, Christian, 12 January 2015, 17 January 2015, de,

Aftermath of Charlie Hebdo shooting and rising tensions

File:PEGIDA DRESDEN DEMO 12 Jan 2015 115724030.jpg|thumb|Pegida demonstration on 12 January 2015 after the Charlie Hebdo shooting ]]While the demonstration on 29 December 2014 was cancelled by the organizers, the movement continued to draw large numbers of participants in early January 2015. After the Charlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015 in Paris, politicians (including ministers and ) warned Pegida against misusing the attack on Charlie Hebdo for its own political agenda. On Saturday 10 January 2015 some 35,000WEB,weblink 35.000 Dresdner demonstrieren für Toleranz, de, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, 13 January 2015, 17 February 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150111080006weblink">weblink 11 January 2015, dead, anti-Pegida protesters gathered to mourn the victims of Paris, observing a minute's silence in front of the .On 12 January 2015, Pegida organizers organised a rally of some 25,000 participants. Pegida's main organizer, , declared the six central political objectives of Pegida, which include calls for selective immigration and the expulsion of religious extremists, the right and duty to integrate, and tighter internal security.WEB, Record turnout at Dresden PEGIDA rally sees more than 25,000 march,weblink Kate, Brady, Deutsche Welle, 12 January 2015, 17 January 2015, On 15 January 2015, a young Eritrean immigrant, Khaled Idris Bahray, was found stabbed to death in his Dresden high-rise apartment. International media correspondents portrayed an "atmosphere of hatred and resentment" and published social media comments of Pegida sympathizers, who had expressed disdain for the dead Eritrean. Pegida's organizers rejected any possible connection.WEB, Killing of Eritrean refugee in Dresden exposes racial tensions in Germany,weblink The Guardian, Kate, Connolly, 15 January 2015, 17 January 2015, One week later, the police investigation led to the arrest and eventual conviction of one of the victim's Eritrean housemates.WEB, Arrest made over the death of Dresden asylum seeker, Deutsche Welle,weblink 22 January 2015, 22 January 2015, WEB, Fünf Jahre Haft wegen Totschlags, Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk Sachsen,weblink 6 November 2015, 26 January 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151117014707weblink">weblink 17 November 2015, dead, (File:PEGIDA Demo DRESDEN 25 Jan 2015 116227086.jpg|thumb|Pegida demonstration on 25 January 2015)Dresden police did not permit the demonstration planned for 19 January 2015, due to a definite threat against one of Pegida's leadership members in form of an Arabic-language tweet labelling Pegida an "enemy of Islam".NEWS, Sommers, Jack, Pegida Cancel Lastest [sic] Dresden Demonstration After Threats, Huffington Post UK,weblink 19 January 2015, 18 January 2015, Pegida cancelled its 13th demonstration and stated in a post on its Facebook page that there was an explicit threat against a leadership member, and "his execution had been ordered by ISIS terrorists".NEWS, Dresdner Polizei verbietet Demos wegen Anschlagsgefahr,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150119065048weblink">weblink dead, 19 January 2015, 19 January 2015, Reuters, 18 January 2015,

Resignations

On 21 January 2015, Bachmann resigned from his position in Pegida after coming under fire for a number of Facebook posts.WEB, German populist leader quits after Hitler pose emerges, Stefan, Wagstyl, Financial Times,weblink 21 January 2015, 21 January 2015, Excerpts from a closed Facebook conversation incriminated Bachmann as having referred to immigrants with the insults "animals", "scumbags"NEWS,weblink PEGIDA founder Bachmann quits after Hitler mustache photo, Deutsche Welle, 21 January 2015, and "trash", which are classified as hate speech in Germany. He was also quoted as commenting that extra security was needed at the welfare office "to protect employees from the animals".NEWS, German PEGIDA leader investigated after Hitler pose, Madeline, Chambers, Reuters,weblinkweblink live, 24 September 2015, 21 January 2015, 21 January 2015, A self-portrait of Bachmann allegedly posing as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, titled "He's back!" (which the later discovered to be a forgery, reporting that the moustache was added after the photo was taken), went viral on social mediaWEB, Photograph of Germany's Pegida leader styled as Adolf Hitler goes viral, Kate, Connolly, The Guardian,weblink 21 January 2015, 21 January 2015, and was printed on front pages worldwide. On another occasion, Bachmann had posted a photo of a man wearing the uniform of the US white supremacist organisation Ku Klux Klan accompanied by the slogan: "Three Ks a day keeps the minorities away". The Dresden state prosecutors opened an investigation for suspected (incitement to hatred), and Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the real face of Pegida had been exposed: "Anyone who puts on a Hitler disguise is either an idiot or a Nazi. People should think carefully about running after a pied piper like this". On 28 January, resigned as well, citing "the massive hostility, threats and career disadvantages" as the reason.WEB, German anti-Islam group PEGIDA loses second leader in a week,weblink Stephen, Brown, Alexandra, Hudson, Reuters, 28 January 2015, 28 January 2015, At the same time four other leading figures of Pegida stepped back.WEB, Germany Pegida: Leader Kathrin Oertel quits protest group,weblink BBC News, 28 January 2015, 28 January 2015, On 2 February 2015 and six other former Pegida members founded ('Direct Democracy for Europe') to distance themselves from the far-right tendencies of Pegida.NEWS, Kate, Connolly, Former Pegida head starts 'less radical' splinter group,weblink 16 February 2015, The Guardian, 3 February 2015,

Reinstatement

In February 2015, Pegida confirmed on its Facebook page that had been re-elected as chairman by the six other members of the organisation's leadership committee, after the published a report that the Hitler moustache on the now infamous photo had been added after the photo was taken.

Dresden mayoral election, 2015

In June 2015, following the resignation of CDU incumbent on health grounds, , who was dismissed from Pegida's leadership circle in June 2016,NEWS, Bachmann stellt Vertrauensfrage,weblink 27 June 2016, Sächsische Zeitung, 20 June 2016, ran for the mayoral office of Dresden, polling 9.6% in the first round with support from the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).NEWS, Merkel's CDU suffers setback in Dresden mayoral poll,weblink 8 June 2015, Deutsche Welle, 8 June 2013, On 7 July 2015, announced that Pegida would participate in all future federal elections in Germany.WEB,weblink Pegida will bei Landtagswahlen antreten, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 7 July 2015, 7 February 2016,

Renewed protests

File:2014-05-10 Akif Pirinçci IMG 1437.jpg|thumb|upright|Pegida keynote speaker , who has been charged with incitement to hatred ]]The European migrant crisis revived the movement, which drew as many as 20,000 supporters to a 19 October 2015 rally in Dresden.NEWS, Smale, Alison, Anti-Immigrant Violence in Germany Spurs New Debate on Hate Speech,weblink 22 October 2015, The New York Times, 21 October 2015, NEWS, Huggler, Justin, Warnings over resurgence of German far-Right movement Pegida sparked by refugee crisis,weblink 22 October 2015, The Daily Telegraph, 20 October 2015, At the same time, observers perceived a further radicalisation of the crowd.WEB, Janosch Delcker, German anti-immigrant protests revive – and radicalize, Politico Europe,weblink 6 October 2015, 20 October 2015, On 28 September, two journalists were injured when Pegida participants kicked a local newspaper reporter and punched another TV reporter in the face.NEWS, Two Journalists Injured While Reporting on Pegida Movement in Germany, 1 October 2015, The Typewriter, On 12 October, Pegida demonstrators carried a mock gallows showing nooses reserved for Chancellor and her deputy .NEWS, Germany: prosecutors probe mock gallows at PEGIDA rally, The Washington Post,weblinkweblink dead, 17 October 2015, 13 October 2015, 20 October 2015, derided the demonstrators who made it, calling it a "laughable piece of work with spelling errors" (""), a reference to the fact that the name Sigmar had been written with an "ie" ().NEWS, Lächerliche Bastelarbeit mit Schreibfehlern,weblink 25 January 2016, Stern (magazine), Stern, 13 October 2015, At Pegida's anniversary event on 19 October 2015, keynote speaker named the Muslim refugees as invaders, with Germany becoming a "Muslim garbage dump".NEWS, Warnings over resurgence of German far-Right movement Pegida sparked by refugee crisis,weblink The Daily Telegraph, 20 October 2015, 20 October 2015, said that politicians were acting like " against their own people",NEWS, Eklat bei Pegida-Demo: 'Die KZs sind ja leider derzeit außer Betrieb',weblink 5 March 2016, Der Spiegel, 20 October 2015, as they wanted critics of Germany's refugee policy to leave the country. Addressing the crowd shouting "Resistance!", he claimed that the majority of Germans were held in contempt by the political class and that politicians wished that there were "other alternatives [to fight Pegida supportersWEB, Die Unwahrheit über Akif Pirinçcis 'KZ-Rede', Niggemeier, Stefan, Journalist,weblink 1 November 2015, 5 March 2016, ] – but the concentration camps are unfortunately out of order at the moment".WEB, Germany's PEGIDA condemned over 'concentration camp' speech,weblink The Times of Israel, 20 October 2015, 20 October 2015, The crowd applauded and laughed, and let him continue his speech for another 20 minutes before calling upon him to finish.NEWS, Outrage over concentration camp quip at PEGIDA speech,weblink Deutsche Welle, 20 October 2015, 20 October 2015, When 1,500 to 2,000 people celebrated Pegida in 's first anniversary, dozens of hooligans protested, vandalizing foreign-owned shops. Over 100 people were arrested. Mayor Burkhard Jung called it "open street terror".WEB,weblink Leipzig police arrest hundreds after far-right hooligans' violent rampage, 12 January 2016, Deutsche Welle,

Party founding

The founder of Pegida, , has set up a new political party, the ("Liberal Direct Democratic People's Party", or ). The FDDV was established on 13 June 2016.NEWS, Dresden: Pegida-Anhänger gründen offenbar eigene Partei, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19 July 2016,weblink de, 19 July 2016, Tommy Robinson founded a branch of Pegida in the United Kingdom.{{citation |last=Allchorn |first=William |title=Cut from the same cloth? Pegida UK looks like a sanitised version of the EDL |publisher=British Politics and Policy at LSE |date=2016 }}

Position paper

(File:Pegida Demonstration in Dresden am 05.01.2015 (16084446507).jpg|thumb|"" ("Putin, help us, save us!") and other slogans on signs and banners)At the beginning of December 2014, Pegida published an undated and anonymous one-page manifesto of 19 bulleted position statements.WEB,weblink Pegida Positionspapier, de, 10 December 2014, menschen-in-dresden.de, Pegida's specific demands were initially unclear, largely because Pegida has refused a dialogue, considering the press to be a politically correct conspiracy. Demonstrators have been observed chanting (lying press), a term that has a long history in German politics.NEWS, 24 February 2016, Lying Press? Germans Lose Faith in the Fourth Estate,weblink Spiegel Online, 5 August 2016, (File:German Resistance Flag Proposal 1944.svg|thumb|right|Variant of the " flag" proposed in 1944 by anti-Nazi resistance member that is often used by members of the movement)Alongside the German national flag, supporters of the movement have often been seen with a variant of the "Wirmer flag", a flag proposed by resistance member in 1944 for use after World War II.NEWS, Hundreds attend anti-immigration rally in wake of Cologne sex attacks,weblink Yahoo! News, 9 January 2015, NEWS,weblink Symbolik bei Demos: Warum bei Pegida die Kreuz-Fahne weht, Der Spiegel, 29 July 2015, {{refn|group=note|The use of the flag gained particular attention in Norway after confusion due to the flag's close resemblance, especially under certain light conditions, with Norway's national flag.WEB,weblink Norsk-lignende flagg i Pegida-demonstrasjoner, Dagen (Norwegian newspaper), Dagen, 26 January 2015, WEB,weblink Nei, det er ikke det norske flagget, NRK, 21 October 2015, WEB,weblink 10 000 demonstrerte mot islam i Tyskland. Dette er flagget de veiver med, Dagbladet, 12 October 2015, }}According to a report from December 2014, Pegida considers Islamism a misogynist and violent ideology.NEWS, Knight, Ben, PEGIDA determining political debate in Germany,weblink 12 December 2014, Deutsche Welle, 15 December 2014, NEWS, Honnigfort, Bernhard, Pegida veröffentlicht Positionspapier,weblink 16 December 2014, Frankfurter Rundschau, 15 December 2014, de, In January 2015 The Guardian described Pegida as a far-right movement, The New York Times labelled Pegida as anti-immigrant, and Angela Merkel has repeatedly questioned the motives underlying its anti-immigrant message.NEWS, Kate, Connolly, Pegida: what does the German far-right movement actually stand for?, The Guardian,weblink 6 January 2015, 16 January 2015, NEWS,weblink Melissa, Eddy, The New York Times, German Anti-Immigrant Figure Quits Post After Posing as Hitler, 21 January 2015, The State Authority for the Protection of the Constitution () of Thuringia considers (the regional Pegida branch of South Thuringia) to be steered by right-wing nationalists.In February 2015 the 19 positions were revised and broken down to the ten "Theses of Dresden".NEWS,weblink The Theses of Dresden,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160304074809weblink">weblink 4 March 2016, Pegida, February 2015, i-finger.de, de, NEWS, Lutz Bachmann und Pegida: Der Thesenanschlag von Dresden,weblink Tagesspiegel, 18 February 2016, WEB, 'Dresdner Thesen': PEGIDA radikalisiert sich nun auch schriftlich, de,weblink Netz Gegen Nazis, 18 February 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170206121140weblink">weblink 6 February 2017, dead, On 10 September 2015, Pegida demanded ten changes to the German refugee policy. They called for an immediate stop for asylum seekers and for a German 'asylum-emergency law'.{{citation needed|reason=Facebook posts are not acceptable as sources, especially deleted ones which are contrary to policy as |date=June 2022}}

Participants and supporters

{{Bar chart| float = right| title = Pegida participants in Dresden| label_type = Date| data_type = participants per day| data_max = 30,000 data3 = 350 | comment3 = data4 = 500 DATE=27 OCTOBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015, de, data5 = 1,000 DATE=3 NOVEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=23 DECEMBER 2014, data6 = 1,700 DATE=10 NOVEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=16 DECEMBER 2014, data7 = 3,200 DATE=17 NOVEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=23 DECEMBER 2014, data8 = 5,500 DATE= 23 DECEMBER 2014 PUBLISHER= FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG>ACCESS-DATE=5 JANUARY 2015LAST1= LOCKE, Stefan, data9 = 7,500 DATE=1 DECEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=15 DECEMBER 2014, data10 = 10,000 DATE=8 DECEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=15 DECEMBER 2014, data11 = 15,000 DATE=15 DECEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=16 DECEMBER 2014, data12 = 17,500 DATE=22 DECEMBER 2014 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015 URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=23 DECEMBER 2014, HTTP://WWW.BILD.DE/POLITIK/INLAND/PEGIDA/DEMONSTRATIONEN-UNCHRISTLICH-KRITIK-DER-EVANGELISCHEN-KIRCHE-39082374.BILD.HTML >TITLE=EVANGELISCHE KIRCHE DEUTSCHLANDS PEGIDA IST UNCHRISTLICH FIRST=PETER URL-STATUS=LIVE ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20150924050258/HTTP://WWW.BILD.DE/POLITIK/INLAND/PEGIDA/DEMONSTRATIONEN-UNCHRISTLICH-KRITIK-DER-EVANGELISCHEN-KIRCHE-39082374.BILD.HTML BILD >ACCESS-DATE=23 DECEMBER 2014 DF=DMY-ALL, data13 = 18,000 DATE=5 JANUARY 2015 ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015, de, data14 = 25,000 weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150112224354weblink">Polizei Sachsen. Januar 12, 2015HTTP://WWW.IBTIMES.CO.UK/GERMANY-ANTI-ISLAM-PEGIDA-PROTEST-RALLY-DRAWS-RECORD-25000-DRESDEN-1483097 WORK=INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES ACCESS-DATE=17 FEBRUARY 2015, data15 = 17,300 PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSENACCESS-DATE=26 JANUARY 2015ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20150205071527/HTTP://WWW.POLIZEI.SACHSEN.DE/DE/MI_2015_34136.HTM, 5 February 2015, data16 = 2,000 WORK=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=17 FEBRUARY 2015, data17 = 4,300 WORK=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=20 FEBRUARY 2015, data18 = 4,800 WORK=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=20 OCTOBER 2015, | label19 = 2 March 2015| data19 = 6,200 WORK=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=20 OCTOBER 2015, | label20 = 9 March 2015| data20 = 6,500 WORK=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=20 OCTOBER 2015, | label21 = 16 March 2015| data21 = 7,700 WORK=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=20 OCTOBER 2015, de, | label22 = 23 March 2014| data22 = 5,500DATE=22 DECEMBER 2014ACCESS-DATE=6 JANUARY 2015, de, | label23 = 30 March 2015| data23 = 2,900DATE=5 JANUARY 2015 ACCESS-DATE=20 OCTOBER 2015, de, | label24 = 6 April 2015| data24 = 7,100PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=20 OCTOBER 2015, de, | label25 = 13 April 2015| data25 = 10,000PUBLISHER=MITTELDEUTSCHER RUNDFUNK >DATE=13 APRIL 2015 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20151022045900/HTTP://WWW.MDR.DE/SACHSEN/DRESDEN/PEGIDA-WILDERS100.HTML URL-STATUS=DEAD, | label26 = 11 May 2015| data26 = 3,000PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label27 = 18 May 2015| data27 = 3,000PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label29 = 25 May 2015| data29 = 2,200PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label30 = 1 June 2015| data30 = 2,000PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label31 = 8 June 2015| data31 = 1,500PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label32 = 15 June 2015| data32 = 1,600PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label33 = 22 June 2015| data33 = 900PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label34 = 29 June 2015| data34 = 1,500PUBLISHER=POLIZEI SACHSEN ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, de, | label35 = 19 October 2015| data35 = 20,000WORK=SYDNEY MORNING HERALD ACCESS-DATE=12 JANUARY 2016, eng, }}According to Frank Richter, director of Saxony's Federal Agency for Civic Education, Pegida is "a mixed group—known figures from the National Democratic Party of Germany, soccer hooligans, but also a sizable number of ordinary citizens". , director of the Migration Council, has pointed out that the movement is strongest where people have hardly any experience with foreigners, and among "easterners who never really arrived in the Federal Republic and who now feel they have no voice".NEWS, The uprising of the decent,weblink 16 January 2015, The Economist, 10 January 2015, In December, , president of Saxony's State Authority for the Protection of the Constitution, said that initial suspicion that Pegida might tie in with the riots staged by earlier in Cologne were not substantiated, so the movement was not put under official surveillance. He said there were no indications that the organizers were embracing right-wingers. This assessment was contested by the weekly who researched the ideological proximity of Pegida organizer to the German Defence League or the European Identitarian movement.WEB, Neues aus der Tabuzone, Die Zeit, 52,weblink 17 December 2014, 22 January 2015, de, In a interview on 19 January, Meyer-Plath reaffirmed that the participant spectrum was very diverse and that there was no evidence of radicalisation.WEB, Sachsen im Fokus der Dschihadisten, Frank, Jansen, Der Tagesspiegel,weblink 19 January 2015, 22 January 2015, de, (File:PEGIDA Demo DRESDEN 25 Jan 2015 116139864.jpg|thumb|left|Pegida demonstration in Dresden)Dresden University of Technology (TU) interviewed 400 Pegida demonstrators on 22 December 2014 and 12 January 2015. According to the poll, the main reasons of their participation were dissatisfaction with the political situation (54 percent), "Islam, Islamism and Islamisation" (23 percent), criticism of the media and the public (20 percent), and reservations regarding asylum seekers and migrants (15 percent). In all, 42 percent had reservations regarding Muslims or Islam, 20 percent were concerned about a 'high rate of crimes' committed by asylum seekers, or feared socio-economic disadvantages.NEWS, Huber, Joachim,weblink Pegida und die 'Lügenpresse'. 'Wort im Mund umdrehen', 19 January 2015, Der Tagesspiegel, 18 December 2014, The author, , did not see Pegida as a movement of right-wing extremists, pensioners or the unemployed, but stated that the rallies served as a way to express feelings and resentments against a political and opinion-making elite which have not been publicly articulated before.NEWS, Federl, Fabian, Meisner, Matthias,weblink Hitler-Verkleidung, Flüchtlinge als 'Viehzeug'. Die Hintergründe zum Fall Lutz Bachmann, 22 January 2015, Der Tagesspiegel, 21 January 2015, A group of social scientists led by Dieter Rucht from the Social Science Research Centre of Berlin () collected data both by flyer and online survey. Despite a participation rate of only 18 percent in the online survey, it largely had similar results to the survey in Dresden. According to data from the WZB, Pegida was a male-dominated group, participants were mostly employees with a relatively high level of education, they had no confidence in institutions and they sympathised with AfD. In some cases the participants demonstrated far-right and right-wing extremist attitudes. The conclusion emphasised that Pegida supporters cannot be viewed as 'ordinary citizens', since they articulate group-focused enmity and racism.NEWS,weblink Pegida: Das sind die Köpfe der Bewegung, Merkur Online, 12 February 2015, NEWS, Hauser, Uli, Die Köpfe hinter Pegida. Wutbürger, die nicht reden wollen,weblink Der Stern, 15 December 2014, NEWS, Locke, Stefan,weblink Pegida-Organisatoren. Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht, Frankfurter Allgemeine, 16 December 2014, {{As of|January 2016}} on Facebook, the Pegida fan page had about 200,000 supporters.NEWS, Dobmeier, Steffi, Jacobson, Lenz,weblink Dresden. Die wichtigsten Thesen von Pegida, Die Zeit, 9 December 2014, According to political consultant , the fanpage allows the users there to present and more easily spread their ideas, which are not represented in the mainstream media.NEWS, Meier, Albrecht, Niewendick, Martin,weblink Kundgebung der Islam-Hasser in Dresden Innenminister de Maizière: 'Pegida ist eine Unverschämtheit', Der Tagesspiegel, 9 December 2014, In December 2014, representatives of the NPD encouraged people to participate in Pegida rallies,NEWS, Dieckmann, Christoph, Fuchs, Christian,weblink Schwerpunkt: Pegida – vereint in Wut und Angst. Neues aus der Tabuzone, Die Zeit, 17 December 2014, as did the German Defence League and the internet blog Politically Incorrect in an uploaded 'propaganda clip'.NEWS, Pollmer, Cornelius, Schneider, Jens, Bielicki, Jan,weblink Demos gegen Islamisten. Rechts orientierte Wutbürger, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 3 December 2014, According to the police, a few hundred "violent hooligans" have been participating in the Dresden rallies since December 2014.JOURNAL, Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Dresden, Blatt VR 7750, The journalist supports Pegida with his new right youth magazine .NEWS,weblink Pegida will Steuerbegünstigung, Die Zeit, 10 January 2015,

Reactions

Counterdemonstrations

(File:Wzwz 141222 munich against racism j.jpg|thumbnail|Demonstration against Pegida in Munich, 22 December 2014)File:Kölner Dom - Abschaltung Beleuchtung als Protest gegen die Kögida-Demo.ogg|thumb|Floodlights of Cologne CathedralCologne CathedralFile:Köln stellt sich quer – nokögida 21. Januar 2015-4289.jpg|thumbnail|Demonstration against Pegida in CologneCologneNumerous protests against Pegida and affiliated movements in cities across Germany have drawn up to 35,000 demonstrators in DresdenNEWS,weblink Dresden setzt Zeichen für Weltoffenheit – 35.000 Menschen bei Kundgebung gegen Pegida, 11 January 2015, DNN online, 12 January 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150113000843weblink">weblink 13 January 2015, dead, WEB,weblink Germany protests: Dresden marches against anti-Islamists Pegida, 10 January 2015, BBC News, 12 January 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150111154808weblink">weblink 11 January 2015, and up to 100,000 nationwide in January 2015, considerably more than Pegida's own concurrent demonstrations.NEWS,weblink Deutschlandweit Proteste gegen Islamfeinde, 12 January 2015, Frankfurter Allgemeine, 12 January 2015, In protest against a Pegida march, the floodlights of the Catholic Cologne Cathedral were switched off on the evening of 5 January 2015.NEWS, Cologne Cathedral to turn out the lights in protest at anti-Muslim march,weblink 3 January 2015, Reuters, 2 January 2015, Dresden's plant used the same method of protest.NEWS, Germany Pegida protests: 'Islamisation' rallies denounced,weblink 6 January 2015, BBC News Online, 6 January 2015, German tabloid newspaper launched a petition against Pegida, including former Chancellors and , as well as actress and former footballer .

Polls

According to a survey by the Emnid institute conducted in December 2014, 53% of East Germans and 48% of West Germans showed understanding for Pegida demonstrations. Differentiated by political parties, supporters consisted of 86% of all surveyed AfD members, 54% of all CDU members, 46% of all SPD members and 19% of all questioned supporters of and respectively.NEWS, Anti-Islam-Bewegung 'Pegida': Mehrheit der Ostdeutschen zeigt Verständnis,weblink 11 February 2015, N24 (Germany), N24, 14 December 2014, 43% of all Germans participating in the survey thought that Pegida protesters are mainly concerned about the "spread of Islam". 33% believed that mainly right wing extremists attend their demonstrations.NEWS, Deutsche vermuten Neonazis und besorgte Bürger hinter PEGIDA,weblink 11 February 2015, Presseportal, 11 December 2014, On behalf of German newspaper , YouGov conducted a survey from 12 to 15 December 2014. The survey showed that 30% of all 1107 surveyed felt sympathetic with regards to the demonstrations. Another 19% said they were understanding rather than the opposite. 26% approved at least partially of the demonstrations, while 10% showed little sympathy and a further 13% no understanding at all.NEWS, Anti-Islam-Proteste: Jeder Zweite sympathisiert mit Pegida,weblink 11 February 2015, Die Zeit, 15 December 2014, A survey by TNS Infratest conducted in December 2014 on behalf of German magazine showed that 65% of all surveyed German citizens felt that the government did not respond appropriately to their concerns about asylum policy and immigration. 28% disagreed, while 34% observed an increasing Islamisation in Germany.NEWS, Spiegel-Umfrage zur Flüchtlingspolitik: Deutsche fühlen sich von Regierung übergangen,weblink 11 February 2015, Der Spiegel, 13 December 2014, A representative survey by Emnid conducted from 17 to 18 December 2014 showed that 85% of all 1006 surveyed were not willing to participate in demonstrations for Pegida policy. Only 9%, more than half of all surveyed AfD followers, said they were in fact willing to demonstrate.NEWS, Protest gegen angebliche Islamisierung – So viele Deutsche würden bei Pegida mitmarschieren,weblink 11 February 2015, Focus (German magazine), Focus, 20 December 2014, On 18 December 2014, the Forsa Institute conducted a survey which showed that 67% of all surveyed Germans considered the danger of Islamisation exaggerated. 29%, consisting of 71% of all surveyed AfD supporters, felt too strong an Islamic influence in Germany and deemed respective demonstrations justified. 13% said they would participate in protests near their residence. 10%, consisting of 57% of all surveyed AfD followers, would even vote for an anti-Islamic party.NEWS, Mathes, Werner, Stern-Umfrage: 13 Prozent der Deutschen würden für Pegida marschieren,weblink 11 February 2015, Stern (magazine), Stern, 1 January 2015, A special report by the Bertelsmann Foundation, complemented by a TNS Emnid survey from November 2014, showed that a majority of German citizens considered Islam dangerous. Consequently, there seemed to be a "strong sympathy" for "Pegida slogans". In absolute numbers, 57% of all surveyed thought of Islam as a danger. 40% felt like "foreigners in their own country", while 24% stated that they would like to prevent further Muslim immigration. These opinions were not exclusive to any political camps or social classes.NEWS, Löbbert, Raoul, Religionsmonitor: 57 Prozent der Deutschen fühlen sich vom Islam bedroht,weblink 11 February 2015, Der Zeit, Zeit Online, 8 January 2015,

Political opponents

Former chancellor criticised Pegida, saying that the leaders of Pegida "have prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts".NEWS,weblink Angela Merkel issues New Year's warning over rightwing Pegida group, 30 December 2014, The Guardian, 2 January 2015, The Federal Minister of the Interior said that among the participants of the mass rallies were many ordinary people who expressed their concerns about the challenges of today's society.NEWS, Protest-Märsche: De Maizière zeigt Verständnis für Pegida-Demonstranten,weblink 16 December 2014, Der Spiegel, 12 December 2014, , the leader of the political party Alliance for Progress and Renewal, has said he considers most of the positions of Pegida to be legitimate.NEWS, Hill, Jenny, Anti-Islam 'Pegida' march in German city of Dresden,weblink 16 December 2014, BBC News Online, 16 December 2014, According to , the people taking part in these demonstrations did not feel that their concerns were being understood by politicians.NEWS, Hugglet, Justin, German Eurosceptics embrace anti-Islam protests,weblink 16 December 2014, The Daily Telegraph, 10 December 2014, Similarly, the Dresden city council's AfD faction welcomed Pegida's weekly demonstrations.WEB, Erklärung der AfD-Fraktion im Stadtrat der Landeshauptstadt Dresden zu den Demonstrationen von PEGIDA,weblink Alternative for Germany, 5 January 2015, de, 20 November 2014, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150105141722weblink">weblink 5 January 2015, , chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, voiced his opposition to the group, saying that the possibility of an Islamic conquest of Germany would be as "absurd" as a resurrection of the Nazi regime. described Pegida as being "highly dangerous": "It starts with verbal assault and leads to actual attacks like the one on a planned refugee hostel in Bavaria". He referred to an arson attack on a home for asylum-seekers that was ready for occupation. After the attack, swastika graffiti was found at the scene. Schuster said that Pegida is a combination of "neo-Nazis, far-right parties and citizens who think they are finally allowed to show their racism and xenophobia openly". He condemned the movement, stating that the fear of Islamist terror was being exploited to disparage an entire religion.NEWS, German Council of Jews chairman condemns 'immensely dangerous' PEGIDA movement,weblink 22 December 2014, Deutsche Welle, 20 December 2014, Pegida has been criticised by Lutheran clergy, including the Bishop of Hamburg .NEWS, Bischof will ehrlichen Dialog mit Muslimen über IS, Bishop wants honest dialogue with Muslims on IS,weblink 28 December 2014, Die Welt, 24 December 2014, de, 's credibility as a leader has been criticised because he has numerous criminal convictions, including "16 burglaries, drink-driving or driving without a licence and even dealing in cocaine". In 1998 he fled to South Africa to avoid German justice, but was finally extradited and served his two-year jail sentence.NEWS, German xenophobia: Peaceful, but menacing, The Economist, 20 December 2014,weblink In November 2014, Saxony's Interior Minister, (CDU), claimed that foreign criminals stayed in Germany too long. He announced the creation of a special police unit to deal with criminal immigrants in Dresden and the rest of Saxony. Investigators and specialists in criminal and immigrant law would collaborate to process foreign criminals in the criminal justice system, and prevent those not eligible for asylum from obtaining the right to stay in Germany.NEWS,weblink Pläne in Sachsen: Sondereinheit soll gegen straffällige Asylbewerber 'durchgreifen', Der Spiegel, 24 November 2014, 9 January 2015, Plans in Saxony: Special unit to clamp down on criminal asylum seekers, de, admitted that there had been a number of criminal acts committed by immigrants near the homes for asylum-seekers, but these were a minority and should not be allowed to undermine solidarity with the great majority of law-abiding refugees. He said police worked on criminal immigrant cases too slowly.NEWS, Robert, Kuhne, Innenminister Ulbig zur Asylpolitik,weblink MOPO24, 24 November 2014, de, YouTube, {{anchor|Bärgida|Kögida}}On the night of 5 January 2015, the lights illuminating the Brandenburg Gate were completely turned off in protest against the Berlin offshoot named NEWS, Tagesspiegel,weblink Bärgida und Gegendemonstration beendet, de, 5 January 2015, 20 November 2015, NEWS, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150513033536weblink">weblinkweblink dead, Licht aus am Brandenburger Tor, de, Lights off at Brandenburg Gate, 5 January 2015, 13 May 2015, 20 November 2015, and also the lights of the Catholic cathedral in Cologne in repudiation against .NEWS, Storify,weblink Anti-islamisation rally in Germany met with countrywide protests,weblink dead, 5 January 2015, 20 November 2015, 20 November 2015, The exterior lighting of the in Dresden was also kept dark during the weekly Pegida marches. Both rallies in Berlin and Cologne were successfully blocked and disbanded by counter-demonstrations.NEWS, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,weblink Licht aus gegen Pegida, de, Lights off against Pegida, 5 January 2015, 20 November 2015, On 26 January 2015 the US Overseas Security Advisory Council published an online security message entitled "Demonstration Notice Riots/Civil Unrest", stating U.S. citizens in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich may "encounter Pegida and counter-Pegida demonstrations" on 26 January and 16 February 2015 in , and "should avoid areas of demonstrations".WEB, Overseas Security Advisory Council, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of State, Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Berlin (Germany), Demonstration Notice,weblink 1 February 2015, 26 January 2015,

Reactions from political scientists

Political scientist WEB,weblink Philosophische Fakultät – Lehrstuhlinhaber, TU Dresden, 19 January 2015, 17 February 2015, de,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150108102817weblink">weblink 8 January 2015, dead, from Dresden believes that politicians are "clueless" when it comes to dealing with Pegida. He says that this points to a serious problem in society, which neither the left wing nor parties of the political middle ground concern themselves with. This allows new social initiatives critical of Islam and immigrants to form.NEWS, Hach, Oliver, Pegida – oder: Die Welle,weblink 11 February 2015, FreiePresse, 28 November 2014, According to him, the demonstrators are normal people approachable by the CDU, if only the party stopped following ostrich policy concerning immigration.NEWS, Des 'patriotes' allemands se mobilizent contre l'immigration, German "patriots" mobilising against immigration, fr,weblink 11 February 2015, Le Temps, 11 December 2014, Far-right politics expert thinks that the demands in Pegida's position paper stem from the middle class centre-right and could as well be the content of CDU/CSU's position papers. Social psychologist from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) assesses the party as a "middle-class right-wing populist movement".NEWS, Pabst, Sabrina, Jaschke: Jetzt ist die Zivilgesellschaft gefragt,weblink 11 February 2015, Deutsche Welle, 17 February 2015, According to right-wing extremism researcher , Pegida states what many people think.NEWS, Lachmann, Harald, Dresden und der Pegida-Protest: Sorge um die weltoffene Stadt,weblink 11 February 2015, Stuttgarter Zeitung, 8 December 2014, says that these opinions are widespread in society and that great anti-democratic potential is erupting there.NEWS, Bohmann, Christin, Extremismus-Forscher: 'Pegida spricht aus, was die Leute denken',weblink 11 February 2015, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, 1 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150219033820weblink">weblink 19 February 2015, dead, According to political scientist Germany is facing "a right-wing oriented group of enraged citizens" that "mingles with members of the right-wing scene and even hooligans".NEWS, Gensing, Patrick, Pegida- und HoGeSa-Demonstrationen: Gegen Islamismus, für 'Heimatschutz',weblink 11 February 2015, Tagesschau (German TV series), Tagesschau, 1 December 2014, Political scientist Hajo Funke sees a connection between Pegida and the great increase in attacks on asylum seekers in 2014. He says that because politics did not react to the population's fear of ever-increasing numbers of asylum seekers, these groups could use these fears and fan them further.NEWS, Kandzora, Jan, Proteste gegen Asyl und Islam: Das steckt hinter Pegida und Bagida,weblink 11 February 2015, Augsburger Allgemeine, 8 December 2014, In his article for the German newspaper , political scientist and historian called it "cynical to want to place Pegida in the tradition of 1989". The demonstrators in Dresden do not align themselves with the philosophy of the extreme right-wing, he says, but they fit the bill for "extremism of the centre ground", which is widespread in Saxony and for whose "group-based misanthropy ... at times the CDU, but prevalently the NPD and as of now the AfD stand" in parliament.NEWS, Lühmann, Michael, Dresden: Pegida passt nach Sachsen,weblink 11 February 2015, Die Zeit, 16 December 2014, In a similar fashion, historian traces the fact that Pegida were able to form in Dresden back to the city's history. In one of his columns in the he referred to the Jewish emancipation of 19th century Saxony, where the comparatively few resident Jews were faced with unequally difficult legal obstacles. concluded that in Dresden "freedom, self-aggrandising local presumption and fear of foreigners" have long belonged together.NEWS, Aly, Götz, Götz Aly, Pegida, eine alte Dresdner Eigenheit,weblink 11 February 2015, Berliner Zeitung, 15 December 2014, Political philosopher considers Pegida an anti-political movement. According to , political action serves the common good and thus requires politicians to voice especially the interests of minorities. While politics was based on pluralism, Pegida was in fact anti-pluralistic and thus anti-political. In 's eyes, the movement has neither an appreciation of otherness nor empathy, which he sees as the basic virtue of political action.NEWS, Manemann, Jürgen, InDebate: Pegida ist eine anti-politische Bewegung!,weblink 11 February 2015, Philosophie Indebate, 22 December 2014, Explaining especially those protests against the actually non-existent threat of Islamisation from people with middle-class backgrounds, political scientist referred to results from studies on prejudice. These studies indicate that aggressive prejudices do not originate from those groups met with resentment, but are rather a result of the situation of those who have them. In addition, fear of social decline often seems to be expressed through aggression. This is then directed especially against those minorities which may seem dangerous, but are in reality unable to defend themselves, often due to a perceived unpopularity within the respective society. In the first half of the 20th century, it was the Jewish minority who were imputed with plans for world domination. Today, it is the Muslim minority who is accused of plotting an Islamisation of Europe.NEWS, Schwan, Gesine, Fremdenhass: Pegida ist überall,weblink 11 February 2015, Die Zeit, Zeit Online, 30 December 2014, In an interview about Pegida, researcher on prejudice referred to his previous warnings about right-wing extremists using the fear of foreign infiltration for their ends. It was not the formation but the attendance figures that really surprised him.NEWS, Cordsen, Knut, Patriotismus oder Vorurteile? Historiker Wolfgang Benz über die Pegida-Proteste,weblink 11 February 2015, Bayerischer Rundfunk, 17 December 2014, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150120085032weblink">weblink 20 January 2015, Political scientist and researcher on extremism considers Pegida demonstrations "a new phenomenon of xenophobia".NEWS, Cordsen, Knut, Die Pegida-Demonstrationen als neues Phänomen für Fremdenfeindlichkeit,weblink 11 February 2015, Endstation Rechts, 5 January 2015, 9 January 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150109141054weblink">weblink dead, In an interview, he accused Pegida leaders of fuelling "hostility and hatred against people of different ethnicity or religion".NEWS, Kurz, Peter, Politologe Pfahl-Traughber zu Pegida: 'Bevormundung der Basis',weblink 11 February 2015, Westdeutsche Zeitung, 2 January 2014, On 5 January 2015, the Council on Migration called for a new general orientation in German society. Since, in their eyes, migration was controllable only to a limited extent, they suggested an orientation committee. Consisting of politicians and representatives of immigrants and minorities, this would work together in order to analyse and redefine "German identity and solidarity in a pluralist republican society". Their results were to be included in German schools' curricula in order to emphasize the historical importance of migration in Germany. In the eyes of the council, German policy has been influenced for far too long by the CDU's guiding principle of "Germany not being a land of immigration". Thus, a concept of integration should include foreigners and refugees in German society. According to the council, German integration policy should not only focus on immigrants, but also provide courses on integration for groups such as Pegida. Praising German Chancellor 's distancing herself from Pegida, the Council stressed that an immigration society is a very complex construct.NEWS, Reimann, Anna, Umgang mit Pegida: Forscher fordern neues Deutschland-Bild in Lehrplänen,weblink 11 February 2015, Der Spiegel, 5 January 2014, Political theorist considers Pegida a part of increasingly right-wing populist tendencies in Europe, in their Islamophobia possibly being the heir to widespread antisemitism. He claims that the demonstrations themselves expose the movement's moderate position paper as a fig leaf for "blatantly unconstitutional xenophobia". Thus, democrats should not sympathize with the movement, as their referring in particular to Judeo-Christian values was contrary to their actual demands. also voiced concerns about the "ghosts of the old nationalism re-entering Germany through the back door". According to political theorists, a democracy needs to be measured by how it protects its minorities. A knowledge of foreign cultures should be taught in schools. Only in this way would it be possible to understand globalisation as a chance for cultural enrichment in the face of global terrorism.NEWS, Jäger, Wolfgang, Die Gespenster des völkischen Nationalismus,weblink 11 February 2015, Badische Zeitung, 10 January 2014,

International reactions

The controversy around Pegida sparked reactions from international media as well. In France, wrote that Islamophobia divided German society, while and discussed possible parallels to the French far-right National Front.NEWS, Ist Pegida ein deutscher Front National?,weblink Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 12 February 2015, Wiegel, Michaela, Several French and francophone cartoonists published a flyer aimed against a funeral march by Pegida in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015. The signatories – among them a surviving member of Charlie Hebdo{{'}}s editorial staff – disapproved of Pegida using the mourning to gather attention for their own cause. They stated that Pegida symbolised everything Charlie Hebdo had fought against and asked the population of Dresden for more tolerance and to be open towards different cultures.WEB, Französische Karikaturisten wehren sich gegen Pegida,weblink Die Zeit, 12 February 2015, The Times claimed that, for the first time since 1945, a German populist movement was publicly complaining about an ethnic minority. This would frighten the establishment. BBC News said that Germany is not used to such large numbers of demonstrators supporting such positions.WEB, Das moderne Deutschland ist das nicht gewohnt,weblink Die Zeit, 12 February 2015, The Guardian described Pegida as an emerging campaign against immigrants that would eventually endanger tourism.NEWS, Ausländische Medien über Pegida: 'Im Tal der Ahnungslosen',weblink Der Spiegel, 12 February 2015, 16 December 2014, Salloum, Raniah, The New York Times claimed that, because of its communist history, East Germany was more xenophobic than the rest of the country. The paper claimed that, in light of the low numbers of Muslims living in Saxony, the fear of Islamisation was bizarre.NEWS, In German City Rich With History and Tragedy, Tide Rises Against Immigration, The New York Times, 8 December 2014,weblink 12 February 2015, Smale, Alison, Russia Today reported comprehensively on Pegida. Its subsidiary Ruptly broadcast several rallies live on the internet.NEWS, Weltpresse über deutsche Islamfeinde: 'Die Rhetorik von Pegida ist armselig',weblink Der Spiegel, 12 February 2015, 6 January 2015, Reimann, Anna, Turkey's and reported on Pegida and counterrallies. Sabah interpreted the demonstrations as a "rise of the radical right in Europe". In an interview with the , Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu compared Pegida followers with members of the terror organisation IS. He said that both had an archaic mindset and that Turkey was "very concerned about Pegida". He called the movement a "threat to Turks, Muslims and Germany itself".NEWS, Türkischer Regierungschef vergleicht Pegida mit IS,weblink Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 12 February 2015, The Arabic news network Al Jazeera primarily reported on counter-demonstrations.

Offshoots and variations

In Germany

Pegida has spawned a number of smaller offshoots across Germany, including in Leipzig, in southern Thuringia, in Kassel, in , in Bonn, in , and in Frankfurt.NEWS, Gedziorowski, Lukas, Pegida wird Fragida,weblink 16 December 2014, Journal Frankfurt, 15 December 2014, de, After some internal disputes, representatives of , an affiliate aiming to operate in the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia, distanced itself from the , and clones in North Rhine–Westphalia. The latter were said to have been taken over by members of the openly xenophobic right-wing splinter party Pro NRW.NEWS,weblink Reiner, Burger, Schwarze Pädagogik, die wir nicht nötig haben, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 12 January 2015, 17 January 2015, de, In January 2015, replaced their media representative with , a member of the German Defence League, an anti-Islamist organisation modelled on the English Defence League.WEB,weblink Pegida-NRW feuert Pressesprecherin und will Köln künftig meiden, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 6 January 2015, 17 January 2015, de, In December 2014, rival right-wing forces founded an anti-American Facebook group under the name PEGADA (, or "Patriotic Europeans Against the Americanisation of the West"), claiming the true problem was not the phenomenon of Islamism but the suspected American forces behind it. On 25 January they held a first rally in Erfurt under the title EnDgAmE (, or "Committed democrats against the Americanisation of Europe"). Promoted by a number of activists of the Third Position -Movement and by Hooligans against Salafists ().WEB, Pegada statt Pegida, Horst, Freires, Blick nach Rechts,weblink 22 January 2015, 24 January 2015, de, They attracted some 1,000 protesters, but were opposed by 800 mostly left-wing counter-demonstratorsWEB,weblink Scuffles as anti-American protesters meet resistance in Germany, Europe Online, 24 January 2015, 24 January 2015, including Erfurt's mayor and trade union members, and the local Antifa.WEB, Knapp 2.000 Teilnehmer bei Kundgebungen, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk,weblink 24 January 2015, 24 January 2015, de,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150127085542weblink">weblink 27 January 2015, dead, Another offshoot, , drew scrutiny after several of its members became involved in a neo-Nazi plot to bomb a refugee centre.WEB,weblink Police foil right-wing extremist plot to bomb German migrant shelters with 'highly dangerous explosives', National Post, 23 October 2015,

International

File:Wien - Pegida-Demonstration, 2 Feb 2015.JPG|thumb|Pegida demonstration in ViennaViennaIn January 2015, Pegida sympathizers held their first rally in Oslo, Norway, with around 200 protesters led by Max Hermansen,NEWS, Chambers, Madeline,weblink PEGIDA's anti-Muslim calls shake up German politics, Reuters, 17 February 2015, 14 January 2015, but this support quickly collapsed.WEB,weblink Pegida sees 'complete failure' in Norway, The Local, 10 February 2015, 7 February 2016, WEB,weblink Pegida i Norge i full oppløsning, no, NRK Trøndelag, 24 March 2015, 7 February 2016, In neighbouring Denmark, around 200 protesters marched in the capital, Copenhagen.NEWS, Brabant, Malcolm, PEGIDA Denmark takes cue from Germany,weblink 24 January 2015, Deutsche Welle, 23 January 2015, In the same month, a Spanish branch applied for a protest outside the main mosque in Madrid, which was rejected by government officials.NEWS, Anti-Islamist movement Pegida surfaces in Spain,weblink 24 January 2015, The Daily Telegraph, 14 January 2015, Marches were planned in Switzerland and Antwerp, Belgium, but not permitted due to anti-terrorism raids in Verviers one week earlier.NEWS, Antwerp cancels PEGIDA Flanders demonstration over security fears,weblink 1 February 2015, Reuters, 22 January 2015, The Antwerp demonstration was finally held on 2 March 2015 without the mayor's permission. About 350 persons were present and about 227 of them were fined for participating in an unauthorised demonstration.On 28 February 2015, Pegida UK held its first protest in Newcastle upon Tyne, with around 400 attending. Around 1,000 people turned up to oppose, led by former MP George Galloway.NEWS, 'Anti-Islamisation' group Pegida UK holds Newcastle march,weblink 2 March 2015, BBC News, 28 February 2015, There was a small Pegida demonstration in London on 4 April 2015, with a counter-demonstration by anti-fascist groups.NEWS, Dearden, Lizzie, Pegida in London: British supporters of anti-'Islamisation' group rally in Downing Street,weblinkweblink 25 May 2022, subscription, live, The Independent, 4 April 2015, The first Pegida demonstration in Sweden gathered eight people in and 5,000 opponents.WEB,weblink Åtta från Pegida – 5 000 motdemonstranter, Sydsvenskan, sv, 9 February 2015, 17 February 2015, NEWS, Andreas Örwall Lovén,weblink Få deltog i första Pegida-aktionen, Svenska Dagbladet, 9 February 2015, 17 February 2015, sv, When Pegida called a demonstration in they gathered four persons.WEB,weblink Endast fyra demonstrerade med Pegida i Linköping, sv, Expo (magazine), Expo, In Uppsala, Pegida managed to gather about ten persons.WEB,weblink Kravallstaket runt Forumtorget, Upsala Nya Tidning, 16 May 2015, Following several failed demonstrations and internal strife the Swedish branch dissolved.WEB,weblink Svenska Pegida lägger ner, A demonstration on 28 March 2015 in Montreal, Canada, by sympathizers of Pegida was cancelled when hundreds of people gathered to counter-protest.NEWS,weblink PEGIDA Québec cancels march after anti-racist groups convene. Anti-Islam group with European roots and National Front sympathies organizes in Quebec, Tracey, Lindeman, CBC News, 28 March 2015, A demonstration on 19 September 2015 in Toronto was attended by about a dozen members of Pegida Canada. The demonstration ended in a melee with counter-protesters who outnumbered Pegida members about twenty to one.NEWS,weblink Vimeo, Liberta, Rias, Antifascists Crush 'PEGIDA Canada', 23 September 2015, {{self-published source|date=June 2022}}Political scientist Farid Hafez argues that Pegida was not able to settle down in Austria, since the far right FPÖ already represented the ideology of Pegida in parliament and absorbed most of the far right human resources.JOURNAL, Pegida in Parliament? Explaining the Failure of Pegida in Austria, German Politics and Society, Farid, Hafez, 1 December 2016, 34, 4, 101–118, 10.3167/gps.2016.340407, Pegida Ireland had planned to have its inaugural rally in Dublin on 6 February 2016, during which Identity Ireland's Peter O’Loughlin, who was also to be chairman of Pegida Ireland, was to speak. While on his way to the rally on a tram, he and members of the movement were attacked by a group of men wearing black masks.NEWS, Roche, Barry, Varadkar concerned by rise of anti-Islamic group Pegida,weblink The Irish Times, 9 February 2016, 14 March 2016, NEWS, Roche, Barry, Anti-Islamic group Pegida Ireland to be launched at Dublin rally,weblink 27 February 2016, The Irish Times, 30 January 2016, The planned rally never took place. A group of Pegida supporters was attacked and chased into a store by a group who broke away from a counter-demonstration.NEWS, Clancy, Paddy, Anti-Islam group chased by anti-racism protesters in Dublin (VIDEO),weblink 27 February 2016, IrishCentral, 11 February 2016, NEWS, Griffin, Dan, RTÉ to file complaint after cameraman is injured in protest,weblink 12 March 2016, The Irish Times, 7 February 2016,

Fortress Europe

On 23 January 2016, representatives of 14 like-minded allies, including Pegida Austria, Pegida Bulgaria, and Pegida Netherlands, met with and in the Czech Republic to sign the Prague Declaration, which states their belief that the "history of Western civilisation could soon come to an end through Islam conquering Europe", thus formalizing their membership in the Fortress Europe coalition against that eventuality. Other signatories present were the Czech organizations ('Bloc against Islam'), and Dawn – National Coalition (, with the Polish National Movement, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, and Italy's . 's said that the meeting was, among other things, a reaction to the attacks on women in Cologne in Germany on New Year's Eve, which took place as celebrations were being held to usher in 2016. At the end of the Prague Declaration, above the signatures, it is stated that there would be demonstrations on 6 February 2016 to manifest their determination. Others who joined Fortress Europe or participated in Pegida-organised demonstrations are: Identity Ireland, Pegida Switzerland, Pegida UK, Riposte Laïque, Résistance Républicaine, For Frihed, Reclaim Australia, and former French Foreign Legion General 's group in Calais.BOOK,weblink Anita, Nissen, Europeanisation of the Contemporary Far Right: Generation Identity and Fortress Europe, 18, Routledge, 2022, 9781000547085, NEWS, Pegida meets with European allies in the Czech Republic,weblink 27 January 2016, Deutsche Welle, 23 January 2016, NEWS, Roche, Barry, Anti-Islamic group Pegida Ireland to be launched at Dublin rally,weblink 27 February 2016, The Irish Times, 30 January 2016, NEWS, Lüssi, Marco, Pegida Schweiz wirft Ignaz Bearth raus, de,weblink 13 March 2016, 20 Minuten, 7 March 2016,

Literature

• BOOK, Werner J., Patzelt, Joachim, Klose,weblink PEGIDA. Warnsignale aus Dresden, de, Thelem, 2016,

See also

• Birlikte
• Counter-jihad
• Eurabia
• Islamic fundamentalism
• Jihad and Jihadism
• Stop Islamisation of Europe
• Demographics of Europe
• Identitarian movement

Footnotes

{{reflist|group=note}}

References

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Further reading

• Rosellini, Jay. The German New Right: AfD, PEGIDA and the Re-Imagining of National Identity (Hurst, 2020) online review

External links

{{Commons category-inline |PEGIDA}}

• {{Official website}}

{{Pegida}}{{German far right}}{{Authority control}}